With sadness it's been announced that the great comedy actor Gene Wilder has died aged 83yrs on 28th August of Alzheimer's.

Born Jerome Silberman in 1933 his love for acting was evident. Jerome used the stage name Gene Wilder at the age of 26 after playwrights & novelists he admired namely one Thomas Wolfe's (1900-1937) character called Eugene Grant taken from the book "Look Homeward, Angel" and Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) surname, hence we have Gene Wilder. He featured in numerous films and guest starred in many TV series throughout his career. He collaborating with his fiend Mel Brooks & Richard Pryor in many hilarious films such as The Producers (1968) ,Young Frankenstein (1974), Blazing Saddles (1974), Silver Streak (1976) Stir Crazy (1980) & See no evil hear no evil (1989) but will be best remembered to all as the weird & wonderful Willy Wonka in the classic Roald Dahl Willy Wonker and the Chocolate factory (1971). RIP Gene.

Sad news indeed. The film industry (and not just “hollywood” either) has a well deserved reputation for having some very unpleasant people in it. But I don’t know of anybody in the business that ever had anything bad to say about Gene Wilder. Not just widely respected, but held with great affection by colleagues and audiences worldwide, you really couldn’t help but like the guy. Can’t ask more than that. One of Gene’s best, funniest and most touching performances is in a lesser known picture that fans are sure to enjoy, “The Frisco Kid” (1979). Very highly recommended despite the flaws that usually accompany a low budget production.